Portable incandescent lamp



June 29, 1937. c; s, MCGILL 1 2,085,683

PORTABLE INCANDESCENT LAMP Filed Aug. 11, 1934 Int/$72227 C/zaizes 5.146122 2,0 thereon;

To provide a constructionwhereby the com- Patented June 29, 1937 PATENTOFFICE PORTABLE INCANDESCENT LAMP Charles S. McGill, Valparaiso, Ind.,assignor to McGill Manufacturing Company, Valparaiso, Ind., acorporation of Indiana I Application August 11, 1934, Serial No. 739,3776 Claims. (01. am- 54) This. invention (relates to portable electriclamps.

Stated generally, a principal object of the invention is to provide aportable incandescent g lamp of new and novel construction, which hasimportant advantages over conventional types of portable electric lampsof which I have any knowledge. r i JImportantspecific advantages are asfollows: 7

. The provision of a combination hook andhandle rigidly secured to theholder member of the lamp, whereby a single member will serve the doublepurpose of suspending the lamp and carrying r and manipulating orhandling it; 0

- To provide simple means for anchoring the 1 conductor, Wires or cableto the holder inember ofthe lamp, thus relieving the connections of theconductor wiresflto the socket memberof the lamp from all stresses dueto tension exerted bined hook and handlemember will be secured to theholder member and will conformto the contour thereof, being disposed insuch position relative thereto that it'will form a guard for.

said holder member, which will protect it from possible; damage byviolent contact with a sus-' pension member, due to carelessnessinengaging said hook and handle member therewith;

1 $39 To provide a lamp whichhas hooks at both of its ends, whereby itmay besuspended with either end depending;

To provide a combination suspension hook and handle member, thesuspension hook of which has a'relatively large radius with a pointmember, its position under gravity will be sub-f of suspensionsubstantially in line with the axis of the lamp, and the end of thehookoff-set .an appreciable distance from the axis of the lamp, whereby thelamp may be suspended with Qits axis disposed substantially verticallyor inclined at an angle to the vertical; To provide a lamp thesuspension hook or member of which is made of fiat bar metal ofsufficient width that when engaged with a suspension stantially stable.

L To effect the objects thereof, a portable electric lamp embodying myinvention comprises the various features, combinations of features andde- Qtails of construction hereinafter described and 1 claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, in which the invention is fullyillustrated, V

Figurev 1 is a side view of a portable electric P1 lamp embodying myinvention and improvements,

shown as suspended by the combination hook and lar d, a combinationsuspension hook and handle designated as a whole e, and a lamp guard orcage designated as a whole 1.

The body portion or holder 0,, is made of suitable resilient material,preferably rubber, vulcanized to such an extent that it will besufficiently rigid to retainits shape under contemplated operatingconditions, and is provided with a recess I adapted to receive and holdthe socket member b, which may be of any desired construction, andwhich, as assembled for use, is detachably secured in engagement withsaid recess by the split clamping ring or collar d, which as shown,interlocks with an exterior annular groove 2 formed in said body portionor holder adjacent its openend. Also, as shown, the closed end ofsaidbody portion or holder a is rounded and projecting therefrom is ahollow boss 3- preferably formed integral therewlthand which, as shown,is disposed with its axis at an angle of approximately forty-fivedegrees tothe longitudinal axis of said body portion or holder. The holethrough said, boss 3 communicates directly with the inner end of therecess l in the body'portion or holder a. and is proportioned to permitthe passage of the conductor wires or cable 4 through the closed end ofsaid body portion in making the wiring connections to the socket memberb, as will readily be understood. As shown, also, the walls of the boss3 are adapted to be compressed or contracted into strong frictionengagement with the conductor wires or cable 4 by means of a splitcollar 5 applied to the outside of said boss and which preferably isconfined in an annular groove 6 formed therein. With the describedconstruction, it is obvious that when said boss is clamped to theconductor.

trio connections to the socket member b being entirely relieved fromsuch stresses.

In the preferable construction shown, also, the combination hook andhandle e is made from a flat bar of suitable stock, preferably steel, ofsuitable width and thickness to afford adequate strength for its designpurpose-say, for usual purposes, one-half an inch /2) wide, by oneeighthof an inch thick, but which may be varied as desired to meet varyingconditions.

The shank I of said hook and handle e is rigidly secured to the splitclampingring or collar d, the relation being such that the portionthereof adjacent its attached end will conform substantially to thecontour of the body portion or holder a, being bent over the rounded,closedend thereof and then reversely to form an open-side hook, asshown, the relation being such that the boss 3 will be positioned behindthe closed side 20 of said hook and in close proximity thereto.

' A particular advantage of the construction described in the foregoingparagraph is that the hook and handle member e will form a guard whichwill protect the body portion or holder a 25 from contact with asuspension support, indicated diagrammatically at 8, in the act ofengaging the hook proper 9 therewith, with resultant possible damage tosaid holder. In accordance with the invention, also, the 30 body portionor holder a and the combined hook and handle e are maintained incontemplated operative alignment with each other by engagement of theshank of'said hook and handle portion with a groove III in the bodyportion or holder which forms a lateral extension of the annular groove2, lengthwise of said body portion or holder.

In the preferable construction shown, said hook proper 9 is curvedon arelative long radius with its position of repose under gravitysubstantially in line with the longitudinal axis of the lamp. As shown,also the outer portion of saidhook proper is bent reversely with itsextreme end below the suspension point of the hook-and appreciably outof line with the longitudinal axis of the lamp, whereby, when the lampis suspended from the end of said hook and is free to respond togravity, the body of the lamp will swing into position beneath thesuspension support. I

The guard or cage 1 may be of any usual or desired construction and theconstruction of a guard or cage suitable for the purpose will readily beunderstood and can readily be supplied by mechanics familiar with suchstructures from an 55 examination of the drawing, without a descriptionthereof in detail. i

"Briefly described said guard or cage consists of spaced wires I2, theouter ends of which are connected to a plate I3 so as to have limitedrelative movement, and the inner ends of which are rigidly connected toa split ring, which, for convenience and economy of manufacture, is thesplit clamping ring (1, to which the combination suspension hook andhandle e is secured-and by means of which the socket member b is clampedsecurely in engagement with the recess I in the body portion or holdera, as previously explained.

In accordance with the invention, also, in addition to'the combinationsuspension hook and handle 6, a usual suspension hook I4 is secured inthe plate I3 of the lamp cage or guard, thus providing for suspendingthe lamp with either end depending.

In accordance with usual practice, the lighting circuit of the lamp iscontrolled by'a' suitable switch, which we will assume is a usual typeor form of toggle switch but which may be any suitable or desired formof switch. As shown, the switch operating lever I5 applied to the socketmember b projects through a hole It: formed in the recessed portion ofthe body portion or holder of the lamp, preferably in such position thatthe lamp may be turned on and oif by a person holding the lamp, usingone hand only, the hole or opening I6 being relieved or cut away at one.end, as shown at H, to permit necessary movement of said switch member.Socket members 2) suitable for the purpose may be purchased commerciallyand need not, therefore, be shown or described in detail.

To provide for conveniently inserting the socket member b into andremoving it from the body portion or holder at, said body portion orholder is slit or severed by means of a cut extending from the open endthereof to the proximate end of the hole I5, preferably in line withtheside of said opening, as shown at I8.

Simple and preferable meansfor securing the combination hook and handleto the split ring at consists in forming a. slot I9 in the end of saidhook and handle of sufficient width to receive the endofa cage or guardwire I2, bending the slotted end of said hook and handle member 6between the ends of the slot therein, to form hooks 20,'the bent overends of which are spaced a sufficient distance apartto provide forhooking the same over the clamping ring or collar d with the bent overends of the hook disposed outwardly, with one on each side of a guardwire I2 and the end of said guard wire in contact with the end of theslot in said hook and handle member. Having assembled the partsin therelation specified, the hooks 2B are pressed down into firm contact withthe ring or collar d, thus completing the operation.

I claim: V 1

1. A portable incandescent electric lamp, comprising a lamp sockethaving electrical contacts and means for making electrical connectionsthereto, a holder made of resilient insulating material provided with arecess arranged and proportioned to receive the lamp socket and with anexterior annular groove, a split collar arranged to interlock with saidgroove, means for securing said split collar to said holder inengagement with said annular groove, a combined suspension hook andhandle rigidly secured to said split ring or collar, said recessedholder being provided with a hole in its closed end which communicateswith the recess therein through which as assembled for use, theelectrical conductors connected to the lamp socket extend, the relationbeing such that the shank portion of the suspension hook and handleadjacent its point of attachment to the ring or collar secured to theholder conforms substantially to the contour of said holder and is bentaround the closed end thereof and then reversely to form an open-sidedhook proportionedand arranged to be conveniently grasped and firmlyheld.

2. The lamp specified in claim 1, in which, as assembled for use, theholder member and combined hook and handle member are maintained insubstantially fixed relation to each other by engagement of said hookand handle member with a longitudinal groove formed in said holdermember.

3. The lamp specified in claim 1, in which the combined hook and handlemember is made of flat bar stock; thereby limiting turning movement ofthe lamp on a suspension member, and permitting engagement of the freeend of said hook with a space only slightly larger than the thickness ofsaid handle member. a

4. The lamp specified in claiml, the split ring of which, secured in theannular groove formed in the holder member and to which the combinedhook and handle is secured, forms a part of a lamp cage or guardarranged to enclose a light bulb secured in the lamp socket.

5. The lamp specified in claim 1, the holder member of which comprises aboss on its closed end provided with a hole or opening for the passageof the conductor wires, said boss being positioned at the closed side ofthe suspension 7 hook, and extendingat an angle to the axis of theholder member.

6. The lamp specified in claim 1, in which the hook proper of thecombined suspension hook and handle member is curved on a. relativelylong radius with its suspension point substantially in line with thelongitudinal axis of the lamp, and the outer portion of the hook properbent reversely with its extreme end below the suspension point of thehook and appreciably beyond the axis of the lamp, whereby when hung fromthe end of the hook and free to respond to gravity the body of the lampwill swing beneath the suspension support.

- CHARLES S. MoGILL.

